Bag forming and filling machine



Jhl 30, 1935.

- T. SCHILDER BAG Fomime- A'ND FILLING momma Fild A ri 11, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR THEODORE SCHILDER ATTORN EYS,

July 30,1935.

T. SCHILDER 2,009,416

BAG FORMING AND FILLING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 11, 1955 I56 we 5 I46 :54 ead 17 8 I I: a I 7 I lNVENTOR 33- THEODORE SCHILDEF BY 5 3 r 5% ATTORNEYS July 30, 1935. 1-. SCHILDER BAG FORMING AND FILLINGHACHINE Filed April 11,1933 5 ShGBtS-SIIBG'E 3 I MM INVEN'IIOR THEODORE SCHILDER ATTORNEYS July 30, 1935. 'r. SCHILDER 2,009,416

BAG FORMING AND FILLING MACHINE Filed April 11, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 v I80 I78 5 r i lNVEN-TOR THEODORE SCHILDER ATTO RN EYS y .1935- I T. SCHILIYDER 2,009,416

BAG FORMING AND FILLING MACHINE Filed April 11, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR THEODORE SCHILDER 1 ATTORNEYS f A known formof machine for I plunger descends" through th di folded and wrappedaroundth g V,

of the plungerto form a recta'n ar ag which is Patented July 30, 1935 omen srArss Theodore scans, mantraan, tan-tor iii F Frcfl-Goat"Co., -Inc.,-New York, N;,Y-'., a'corpora-i,

'Appllcation Al rili lL;l933,- SerialNo 665,53ilf f v fcni s.

This invention relates to a and filling machine, and more particularly to' a highspeed turret machine for forming bags of the Anderson type.

filled by "discharging the fill ii me grial which ordinarily isgranular. :orpowd ry, V through the plunger into the mbryo plungeris then elevated a moved onwardlyji-to' a' bag closing s ta any here ly treated to seal the same. f I

The speed of t .machine is obvious M i nited by the total of the imeincrements needed-for the various successive operations, such as,' the feeding of paper to the-die, thedescent offthe plunger to form thebag, the measuring and feeding of ,fa

charge of material to the plungeraswell. as-the discharge of the material into the. ba'g,the elevation of the plunger, and the delivery of the formed and filled bag from the die. The primary objectof the presentinvention is to'generally' improve machines of the Anderson type; with the particular object in view of greatly speeding up the operation of the machine without, however, shortening the time available for each'lbag form- 'ing operation, and, in fact, actually increasing the same,.if desired. This objectI fulfil by the provisioniof a. rotatable turret on which there are distributed alplurality of bag formi and filling stations, each of the stations i'ricludinga die, and a hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough in the conventional manner. With this arrangement, ample time is provided forthe forming "and filling of each bag, for nearly all of the time "of r0.- tation of the turret; may be'used for operation upon a single bag at a singleI-sftation whilethe 1 output of the machine as a wholeis obviously increased due to the substantial number of stations operating. At the same time, the machine is compact and requires no more space and supervision than the old form of Anderson machine having only a single operating station.

Further objects of the present invention center about the feed of the filling material or powder the plunger into the bag. g; is" V ters about thepaper feeding means and is to de- 20 the open top of the bag is folded and appropriate-:

to the bags and are: to make possible a continuous and self-regulating supply of powder to the machine througha simple stationary pipe, the distribution of the powder around the several stations through the use of anannular hopper lo- 5 cated above-thestations and rotating therewith, Jas well'as the continual and automatic agitation ,and leveling of the powder in the hopper: the provision got means for measuring theindividual char'gesw-ofpowder in an accurate manner, toggether'with micrometric meansfor accurately Qadjusting'this measurement to adesired value; g and thegprovision of a retainingvalve and operatingilinkag'e therefor so disposed within the fplu'ngerand so operated .as'to befully openable and tojpre'sent a clearhollowplunger for direct straightrflow of the powder downwardly through ,Afurther-object of the present invention censig'n paper feeding mechanism which is adapted 1 to remain stationary alongside'of the rotating turret; whichieeds blanks of paper to the turret in proper position thereon without necessitating any dwell or interruption of the. rotation of the "turret; which is capable of severingand feeding blanks of desired and uniform dimension from a continuous web or roll of paper; 'whichincludes means for unrolling a slack section of paper from the roll, and yet which is yieldably. arranged to obviate the possibilityof tearing the web of paper,

particularly, whenthe roll is new and heavy;

which further includes roller feed means to ad-= .vance-the paper toward the turret andupon a 'ter abouttheconstruction of the turret of the machine and its relation to the frame of the machine, and include simplification of the mechanism neededfor providing the many complex and properly timed operations of the bag forming and filling stations, which is accomplished, in a general way, by associating with the rotating turret a series of stationary cams cooperating with cam followers on the turret, so that the physical rotation of the turret is itself used to mechanism, and include: the provision of a simple and effective form of delivery conveyor leading away from the machine; the provision of meansfor transferring the formed and filled bags from the turret to the conveyor; and the proper interrelation and synchronization of the turret, the conveyor, and the delivery wheel therebetween. Still further objects of my invention concern the drive of the machine, including its operation from a single power source, appropriate control or clutch mechanism, preferably embodying safety clutch or over-load clutch means, and the disposition of the numerous operating cams for many of the machine movements upon a single cam shaft, thereby facilitating timing of the machine.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the bag forming and filling machine and the elements thereof and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter are more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partially sectioned front elevation of a machine constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a partially sectioned plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section explanatory of the paper unrolling arm;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken through one of the bag forming and filling stations on the turret;

Fig. 5 is a section through the plunger, taken in the plane of the line 5-5 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken in the plane of the line 66 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the paper feed mechanism, taken approximately in the plane of the line '|-'I of Fig. 1; Y

Fig. 8 is a detail of the feed fingers and is taken in the plane of the line 8-8 of Fig. '7;

Fig. 9 is a detail of the drive mechanism for the paper feed roller, and is taken in the plane of the line 99 of Fig. 7

Fig. 10 is a section through the paper feed and cutting mechanism, and is taken in the plane drive and safety clutch.

Referring to the drawings, the present machine comprises a turret T carrying a plurality of bag forming and filling stations S and rotatable on a stationary frame F. Each of the bag forming stations includes a hollow rectangularplunger P reciprocable through a die D. Paper is fed from a roll B through appropriate paper feed- 'ing'mechanism M to apoint over the dies D, the

' continuous webs being severed into blanks of desired dimension by a knife K. As plunger P descends through the die D, the paper, is folded and wrapped about the end of the plunger to'formmeasured out in the valve chambers V and dropped downwardly into the plunger P. The formed and filled bags are delivered to a delivery conveyor C from the turret T by an appropriate transfer or delivery wheel W.

The general arrangement of the machine having been referred to, the various parts thereof will next be described in greater detail, and, for convenience, the description will be divided into sections taking up the powder feed mechanism,-

the paper feed mechanism, the turret, the delivery system, and the drive mechanism, after which the operation of the machine will be summarized.

Powder feed mechanism The powder feed mechanism is best shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6, referring to which, a supply of the filling material, which may be granular or flaky as well as powdery but which, for convenience, will-be referred to as powder, is supplied through a simple stationary pipe 12 anchored in one corner of the triangular top plate 14 of the frame of the machine, the lower end of pipe l2 terminating within the hopper H. This hopper is annular and forms the uppermost portion of turret T, the hopper extending around and, in effect, interconnecting the stations S which, in the present machine, are four in number. The hopper is preferably downwardly tapering, as is clearly evident from an inspection of Figs. 1 and 4 showing the convergingside walls I 6 and I 8. The rotating hopper is continually supplied with powder from pipe l2 'as fast as the powder is filled into the bags, the powder in the.-

hopper being maintained at a constant desired level by the immersion of delivery pipe I2 in the hopper together with the continuous rotation of the hopper relative to the stationary pipe.

The powder being filled into the bags may, in some cases, for example gelatine powder intended for household use as a dessert, have a tendency to stick to the walls of the hopper or to form lumps; and, to obviate this difficulty, the hopper is preferably provided with means to constantly agitate the powder therein. For this purpose the triangular top plate I4 of the frame is preferably provided with several combs 20, best shown in-Figs. 1 and 2, the teeth of which are graduated in length to fit the tapered shape of the hopper, and which serve to constantly agitate the powder. If desired, more than two combs may be used, and the teeth may be staggered relative to one another. It should also be noted that the combs slope in the direction of rotation of the turret, which is clockwise as viewed in plan, so that they have a tendency to force the powder downwardly into the valve chambers V, these valve chambers being located immediately beneath the hopper and communicating therewith through appropriate passages 22, as is best shown in Fig. 4.

'lhere are four valve chambers V'distriouted in quadrature around the turret and beneath the hopper and corresponding to the four bag formjnggand filling stations S. Referring to Fig. 4, the-valve'chamber is provided with a measuring box 24 the top of which may be closed by a cutoff valve 26, and the bottom of which may be opened by a. valve 52, thus dropping a measured charge of powder into the open upper end of plunger P, where it may be temporarily retained by a plunger valve H0 until the plunger descends to form'the bag. "The cut-off valve 26 is preferably of the sliding type shown, mounted on a valve arm 28 operable by a valve rod 30 which projects out of the valve chamber and carries an arm 32 connected through a link 34 to an arm 36 which in turn moves a sidewardly displaced arm 36. connected by an outwardly projecting cam follower rod 46 slidable in boss H to a cam follower wheel 42. This in turn rides upon the surface of an annular cam 44 mounted on a ring 46 extending entirely around the turret and mounted upon the three upright pillars 48 of the machine frame, as is best shown in Fig. 1. As the turret revolves, the cam follower 42 is operated by cam 44 to open or close the cut-off valve 26. It may be remarked'that the inwardly and then outwardly directed linkage 34 and 46 is introduced to displace the cam follower mechanism sidewardly of the valve chamber, and to reduce the diametrical dimension of the turret and surrounding cam.

The bottom valve 66 is mounted on a valve rod 52 connected outside of the valve chamber to an operating arm 54 in turn operated by a relatively long operating arm 56 oscillated, through linkage 56, lever 60, cam follower rod 62 slidable in boss' 63, and cam follower 64, by an annular cam. 66 carried within a ring 68 itself mounted on the three pillars 46 of the frame. Levers 54 and 56 are employed to step up the angular oscillation of the valve, so that valve 56 may be dropped. downwardly to a substantially vertical and fully opened position without, however, ne-

cessitating an inconvenient cam elevation or inward projection of the cam projections 66 carried by the ring 66. The measured charge of powder from the measuring box -24 is dropped downwardly out of the valve chamber V through an appropriate discharge opening 10 into the open upper end of plunger P, which at that time is in the elevated position shown in Fig. 4. the upper end of the plunger then bearing against a preferably rubber bumper 12 located at the bottom of the plate I4. 'Valve chamber V is secured on the periphery of a casting forming the upper part of the rotatable turret T, this casting including. the lower plate I4 and an upper plate I6, between which the valve chamber is secured, as well as interconnecting webs l6 and 60 which space the plates I4 and I6 apart and provide supports and guides for the valve linkage already referred to. (The bosses 4I' and 63' correspond to bosses H and but belong to the next station on the turret.)

The volume of the charge measured out by the measuring box 24 is adjustable, and this adjustment is in the present case obtained by the use of a movable side 62 the upper end of which is fixed and the lower end of which may be oscillated by a micrometric control screw 84 having a dial 86 secured to the outer end thereof, the said dial cooperating with an appropriate fixed scale 68. The adjustment may be locked by an internally threaded handleQIl acting as a lock nut which jams against the valve chamber.

The plunger P is a substantially straight hollow tube which is rectangular in cross-section, being made, for example, of cold rolled steel. The tube is clamped near its upper end in a plunger casting'92 (see Fig. 6) the inner portion of which is provided with tongues or runners 94 reciprocable in channels or tracks 96 formed on J the outer surface of a casting 98 forming a part of the rotatable turret. The plunger casting 92 may be tightly clamped on the upper end of the plunger through a separable outer 'portion I which in turn carries a cam follower wheel I62;

' The plunger casting 92 may itself be applied to or removed from the turret casting 96 by removing the guide rails I04. The plunger is reciprocated vertically through the cooperation of cam follower I02 with a cam groove formed between the upper and lower sections of a cylindrical camv rod I26 carrying a cam follower arm I22 bearing at its end a cam follower roller I24. It should be noted in Fig. 4 that the valve IIIi, even in its closed position, is sloped-downwardly, making it readily possible to fully open the valve by a relatively small downward oscillation. It should also be noticed, as by reference to Fig. that the complete control mechanism, including the arms I I4 and-I I 8 with interconnecting link I I6, are disposed close to the outer wall of the plunger. They are preferablyconcealed by a dummy wall I26 extending parallel and close to the edge wall of the plunger and having its upper and lower ends bent outwardly to join the walls of the plunger, as is shown in Fig. 5. It may be remarked that, in order to show the mechanism involved, the inward displacement of wall I26 is exaggerated in Fig. 5, and in actual practice this displacement may be and preferably is minimized. This construction, together with the full-opening of the plunger valve III), gives to the plunger a substantially clear hollow construction permitting a direct straight downward fiow of the powder through the plunger and into'the bag. This in turn obviates diificulties due to sticking or lumping of the powder on the walls and valve mechanism of the plunger, as results when the powder is caused to take a more circuitous or indirect path for delivery.

The cam follower I24 rides along a vertical cam surface I25, best shown in Fig. 1, this cam being essentially a rib cast integrally with the turret casting 98. Near the end of the downward stroke of the plunger, the cam surface rises and trips the valve to its fully opened position. Considering all of the powder va1ves,;the cut-off valve 28 is never opened except when the bottom valve 50 is closed, and the bottom valve 56 is never opened except when the cut-off valve 28 is closed. The bottom valve 50 is opened when the plunger is in its elevated position, and at this time the retaining valve H6 is, of course, closed. It will be appreciated, of course, that the plunger valve is preferably located near the bottom of the plunger to permit instantaneous delivery into the bag, and that the internal valve operating linkage mechanism is then necessitated because the outer surface of the entire lower part of the plunger is left unobstructed for reciprocation through the die.

Paper feed mechanism As is best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the paper is fed from a roll R supportedin conventional fashion upon appropriate arms I3) projecting outwardly from the base I32 of the frame F. The web to Fig. 3, the friction device I38 comprises a pair of rods I40 and I42 so displaced withrespect to one another as to cause reverse bending of the web of paper. This applies friction to the paper, which restrains the web from moving downwardly when the paperunrolling arm I36 descends, thus insuring that the paper will be unrolled from .the roll R to provide the desired slack in the web.

The paper unrolling arm I36 is pivoted'on a fixed bearing I44 and carries intermediate its length a cam follower I46 riding in the cam groove I48 of a cam 5. To overcome any tendency for the paper rolling arm to tear the web, particularly when the paper roll is a freshly started and relatively heavy one, the arm I36 may be made yieldable to give under the initial strain of its downward movement. For this purpose, the arm is divided and provided with an outer portion I50 pivoted at I 52 to the inner portion I54. The inner portion'is extended outwardly to form a nonyieldable extension I56 between which and the outer portion I50 there is interposed a compression spring I58 held in place and adjustable through a tensioning bolt I60. Inasmuch as the yieldability of the arm is intended merely to absorb the shock of initial movement so as to-set the paper roll into movement gradually, and is not intended to materially reduce the amount of slack provided in the web of paper, the yi-aldability of the arm may be limited by a positive stop I62 bearing against an abutment I64, the permitted movement being adjustable by altering the posi-' tion of stop I62.

The web of paper then passes between a lower feed roller I10 and an upper pressure wheel I12, as is best shown in'Fig. 10. Feed roller I10 is mounted on a shaft I14 which is intermittently and uni-directionally rotated by mechanism next described. Referring to Figs. 7 and 9, there is a generally upright and vertically reciprocable rack bar I16 meshing with a pinion I18 secured to the outer or driving portion I80 of a friction or roller clutch the inner or driven portion I82 of which is in turn keyed to a shaft I83 and gear I 84. It will be understood that the spring operated rollers I86 between the driving and driven portions of the clutch cause the clutch to rotate gear I84 in the direction of the arrow but permit slippage in the reverse direction. Gear I 84 meshes with pinion I86 which in turn is keyed to the shaft I14 of the paper feed roller I10 already referred to. It will thus be seen that the feed roller is adapted to intermittently advance the web of paper tobut shown in Figs. 1 and 7. Referring to thesefigures, the-eccentric friction brake comprises a wheel I88 having a grooved periphery cooperating with the wedge-shaped end of a brake arm I80, the wedge-shaped end being arcuate about a center eccentric with respect to the center of oscillation of the arm I90, so that movement of the shaft I83 of the gear I84 is freely permitted in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 9, but is effectually prevented in a clockwise direction.

The paper fed by rolls I10 and I12 is delivered upon a support inthe form of a skeleton table I82 comprising, in the present instance, only an edge adjacent the feed rollers and a trailing edge I 84, as is best shown in Fig. "1. The skeleton table forming dies D. The skeleton table is mounted upon the inner face ofrpedestal I88 which supports the paper feeding rolls and the knife K.

When a measured blank of paper has been fed past the knife and is supported upon the skeleton table, the blank is severed by the cutting mechanism K. This comprises a 'knife blade 200 pivoted at 202 on a knife supporting arm 204. The opposite or free end 206 of the knife blade is reciprocated through a generally upright link 208, best shown in Fig.1. This link is in turn pivoted at the upper end of a rod 210 vertically reciprocable in a bushing 2I2 mounted on the machine frame. the lower end of which is provided with a cam follower wheel 2 running in a cam groove in the face of a cam 4, best shown in Fig. 2. The

mounting of the cam follower 2 is preferablyfurther provided with sidewardly projecting vanes or wings 2I6 (see Fig. 1) which bear against the side face of cam 4 and prevent rotation of the cam follower rod, thereby holding the cam follower with its axis in desired alignment.

Just before the cutting mechanism severs the blank from the web, the blank is preferably seized to prevent movement during and after the cutting operation. For this purpose, the paper feed mechanism includes a pair of feed fingers 220, best shown in Figs. '1 and 8. These feed fingers are reciprocable toward and from the turret, and, to accommodate this movement, the trailing edge I84 of the skeleton table is preferably cut away or recessed, as is indicated at 222 in Fig. 7. The lower finger 220 is secured to the lower half 224 of a split rod reoiprocable in a sleeve 226 forming a part of the pedestal supporting the paper feed mechanism. The upper finger is oscillatable with a partial pinion 228 meshing with a rack 230 formed at the inner end of the upper portion 232 of the split rod received in the sleeve 226. The fingers 220 are operated by a generally upright lever arm 234 the forked upper end of which bears against a pin 236 secured to rod 232. It will be evident from an inspection of Fig. 8 that; clockwise movement of lever 234 first causes closing of the feed fingers 220 upon the blank of paper (this blank being numbered 238 in Fig. '1), and thereafter causes bodily movement inwardly of the feed fingers with the blank of paper to position the blank symmetrically directly over the die plate and directly beneath the plunger.

While not strictly a part of the generally stationary paper feeding mechanism, the delivery of the blanks of paper is further accomplished with the aid of pairs of holding fingers 240 mounted on and rotatable with the turret, these fingers being most clearly shown in Fig. '1. These fingers are normally elevated, but, as the die passes the paper feeding mechanism, and, specifically, just when these come into registry or indexing relation, the holding fingers 240 are dropped upon the blank of paper and the feed fingers 220 are released, so that the blank is held in proper position on the die and is carried around with the die and the turret. For this purpose, the fingers are normally urged downwardly by springs 242 butare normally held upwardly against the spring pressure by a trigger 244. The lower end of the trigger lever is connected, by means of a trigger rod 246, to a trip finger 248. As is best shown in Figs. '1 and 10, the pedestal I88 of the paper feed mechanism is provided with a knockout cam 250 against which the trip finger 248 Rod 2I0 is a cam follower rod 246 inwardly, thereby releasing trigger 244 andpermitting the holding fingers 240 to drop smartly upon the blank of paper. The extremities of fingers .240 are preferably provided with gener{ ally hemispherical rubber bumpers 252.

The holding fingers 240 are" again elevated by push rods 254 (see Fig. 1) connected at the upper 'ends of cam follower rods 256 the lower ends of which carry cam follower wheels 256 which ride upon the upper surface of the frame plate 260.

At appropriate points, the frame ,plate is provided with cam lift elements 262 which elevate the holding fingers, whereupon they are held in elevated position by the trigger mechanism 244.

Turret mechanism The construction of the turret has, for the most part, already been explained. It is rotated by a vertical shaft 210 on which it is mounted and by which it is supported. The. upper end of the shaft 210 is received in a tapered roller bearing 212 carried by the triangular top plate M of the frame. The lower end of the shaft 210 is carried in a main boss 214 depending from the plate 260 of the frame and internally supporting tapered bearings 216 and 218. The downwardly projecting end of shaft 210 carries a gear 260 and a bevel gear 232 the purposes of which will be described later.

On shaft 210 there is fixedly mounted the die plate or table I96 heretofore referred to, surmounted by the turret casting or drum 98 on which the plungers are reciprocable, which in turn is surmounted by the valve chamber casting the top of witch carries the hopper. Most of the cam movements of the turret have already been explained, and it will be noted in general that the turret is a self-contained unit which need merely be rotated through shaft 210, for, upon rotation of the turret, the various cam followers associated with the valve chamber, the plunger, and the holding finger lifts are automatically operated.

The turret isrotatable on a stationary frame comprising a hollow base I32 formed by side plates bolted between a base plate 284 and a top plate 260. The hollow base carries driving.mech anism, described later, and is surmounted by the three pillars 48 which carry the top plate l4 and the cam rings 46 and 68 as well as the cam cylin der I06. The base of the frame further carries the paper feed mechanism, and bag delivery mechanism next described.

Delivery system The formed and filled paper bags B are delivered from the machine by a conveyor C, the bags being taken from the turret and moved to the conveyor by an intermediate delivery wheel W, these parts being best shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 11. The turret includes at its lowermost portion four wiper arms 290 indexing with the four bag forming stations of the turret. The outer end of each of these arms is provided with a wiper hand 292 which bears against the trailing edge of the bag and thus pushes the bag around with the turret on an arcuate track 294 having an outer wall 296 (see Fig. 2). The wiper arms are further provided with brushes 298 which press outwardly against the inner side of the has, thus holding the bag against the outer wall 296. The primary function of brushes 298 is to prevent the bags from ascending with the plunger when the plunger is elevated. By the time the formed and filled bag reaches the delivery wheel W, the plunger is, of course, elevated and the bag is being moved solely by the hand 292 and the brush 260.

The delivery wheel W consists primarily of a pair of diametrically opposed arms 300 each carrying at its outer end a band 302. The diameter of delivery wheel W is preferably made half of the diameter of the turret, and the delivery wheel is rotated at twice the rotative speed of the turret, thus giving the turret and delivery wheel equal linear speeds. To drive the delivery. wheel, it is mounted upon a shaft 304 supported in a boss 306 depending from the frame plate 260. The lower end of shaft 304 carries a spur gear 300 meshing with the spur gear 280 heretofore referred to. These gears are in 2 to 1 ratio, thus producing the desired equality of linear. turret and delivery wheel speed.

Referring to Fig. 2, the delivery wheel cooperates with a semicircular track 3I0 provided with edge walls ,3l2. It will be evident from an inspection of Fig. 2 that as each bag station comes to the third quadrant point, or the delivery station, one of the delivery hands 302 is moved in back of the bag and thereupon moves the same around the track 3l0. 1 It should be understood that the delivery hand 302 of the delivery wheel W has its fingers staggered with respect to the fingers of the hand 292 of the turret, and, while no view of the drawings brings out this feature, the point involved is clearly evident from the showing of Fig. 11, in which the hand 302 of the delivery wheel W is similarly staggered with respect to the hand 320 of the conveyor system next described.

The conveyor C comprises a stationary track 322 joining the semicircular track 3l0 of the de livery wheel. The bags B are moved along the track by a series of pusher hands 32. fixedly mounted upon and spaced along a reciprocable slide 324 (see Figs. 2 and 11). This slide is reciprocable on a track 326 which is mounted upon and upwardly oscillatable with a plurality of tilting arms 328 mounted upon an oscillatable shaft 330 carried in bearings 332. Shaft 330 is oscillated by an outwardly projecting arm 334 connected to a generally horizontal tiltable lever 330 through a vertical interconnecting link 330 (see Fig. 1) The lever 336 is centrally pivoted at 340, and its opposite end is provided with a cam follower 342 fitting in the cam groove of cam l.

The end of slide .324 is connected'through appropriate universal joints to a link 344 the opposite end of which is connected to the upper end of a generally upright lever 346 (see Fig. 1), said lever being pivoted .at 346 and carrying at its lower end a cam follower roller 350 which fits in the face cam groove of a cam 2.

It will thus be evident that, upon rotation of the cams l and 2, the hands 320 of the conveyor C are both oscillated and reciprocated, and the timing is made such that the hands are oscillated upwardly out of the path of the bags during the return reciprocation of the slide, after which the hands aretilted downwardly to a position in back of the bags, whereupon the hands are moved forwardly with the slide to urge the series of bags along the conveyor, after which the hands are a ain tilted out of the path of the conveyor. It will further be understood that the operation of the machine is so timed that the forward movement of the hands is synchronized with the rota.-

Drive mechanism Referring to Fig. 1, the machine is driven by an electric motor 352 geared by chain 354 to a sprocket gear 356 which rotates the driving portion of an appropriate cone clutch. The driven part of the clutch is fast with pinion 358, so that, when the clutch is engaged, as by tilting the manual control lever 360 which rocks shaft 362 and thus moves the clutch yoke 364, the pinion 358 is rotated and drives gear 366. Gear 366 is used to rotate the main drive and cam shaft 368. 'However, instead of keying gear 366 directly upon shaft 368, I prefer to interconnect these by a safety clutch 318.

This safety clutch may be of any desired type, and one example is shown in Fig. 12, referring to which it will be seen that the shaft 368 carries gear 366 freely rotatable thereon. The side face of the gear hub is provided with a series of indentations 312 mating with a series of balls 314 carried in holes 316 in a flange 318 keyed at 388 to the shaft 368. The halls 314 are normally urged into recesses 312 by a reciprocable plate 382 which is strongly held against the balls 314 by a compression spring 384 the tension of which may be adjusted by adjusting nuts 386 threaded upon the end of the flanged sleeve 318. The pressure disc 382 is preferably keyed at 388 to prevent independent rotation. It be evident that under normal loads, the cam shaft 358 is rotated with gear 366, but upon overload, as, if a part of the machine jams, the safety clutch begins to slip, thus preventing injury to the remainder of the machine.

The cam shaft 368 extends horizontally across the machine and is carried in a plurality of depending bearing pedestals 380 an end one of which is clearly shown in Fig. 12. Four of these bearings are employed, creating three spaces or shaft sections therebetween, in each of which sections there are moimted two cams, numbered I through 6 and clearly shown in Pig. 2 of the drawings. Cams I and 2 are arranged back to back and operate the. conveyor C, cam I oscillating the pusher hands of the conveyor, and

cm 2 reciprocating the same. v

Cam 3 operates the paper feed fingers 220, the mode of operation being clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in which it will be noted that the generally upright operating lever 234, the

upper end of which closes and reciprocates the feed fingers 228, is centrally pivoted at 382'and carries at its lower end a cam follower .roller 884 which fits into a cam groove on the face of cm 8..

Cam 4 is employed to oscillate the knife K,

and the linkage for this purpose has already been described in connection with Fig. 1, it including link 288, cam follower rod 2I8, and cam follower roller 2.

Cam 5 operates the paper unrolling arm I36, as is clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

Cam 6 causes the intermittent feed of paper through the paper feed roller I18. Referring to Fig. 9, it will be recollected that the desired paper feed was initiated by reciprocation of generally upright rack I16. In Fig. 1 it will be noted that this rack I16 is connected at its lower end to a generally horizontal lever 488, pivoted at its inner end 482, and intermediately carrying a cam follower roller 484 which fits into a cam groove on cam 6. J

The remote end of cam shaft 868 carries a gear 8 meshing with a gear 412 at the outer plane of the turret shaft 218.- The inner end of the stud shaft 4 carries a bevel pinion 6 (see Figs. 1 and 2) which meshes with bevel gear 282 heretofore referred to as being secured to the lower end of the turret shaft 210. R0- tation of the turret is automatically accompanied by the remaining necessary movements on the turret, as has already been explained. At the same time, through gears 288 and 308, the de- No. 652,848; filed January 21, 1933. By driving the bag closing apparatus from shaft 422, it may be operated in exact synchronism with the operation of the bag forming and filling turret.

Operation The operation of the machine is-best considered in terms of the four quadrants making up one complete revolution of the turret. These quadrants will be considered as beginning at the paper feed mechanism M. During the first quadrant, the plunger P descends and forms a bag out of the blank of paper delivered to the die at the paper feeding station. Near the end of this quadrant the plunger valve opens, thereby initiating the filling of the bag. During the second quadrant the plunger remains in its lowered position, thereby providing ample time for the powder to be discharged and. to fully empty into the bag. During the third quadrant the plunger is elevated. As the plunger is elevated, the bag is held downwardly on track 284 by the brushes 288, and at the same time movement of the bag is continued by reason of the wiper hands 282 on the turret, which hands bear against the trailing edge of the bag. The bag is thus carried during this third quadrant along with the turret and remains beneath the bag forming and filling station. At the same time, the plunger is being elevated. At the end of the third quadrant the outer flange or wall 286 of the turret track 284 ends, and the edge walls 8| 2 of the delivery wheel track 8I8 begin. As the bag reaches the-third quadrant point, the band 382 of the delivery wheel comes behind the bag and begins to move it around with the delivery wheel. At the point of junction the paths of the turret and wiper wheel are tangent and the linear speeds are equal, so that the bags are transferred smoothly and easily away from the turret. During the fourth quadrant the plunger'remains in its elevated position bearing against the valve chamber, and this quadrant is used to transfer powder from the measuring box into the plunger. In other words, during the fourth quadrant the cutoff valve 28 is closed and the bottom valve 58 is opened. Also during this quadrant the filled bag is moved by the delivery wheel W from the turret to the conveyor.

During this fourth quadrant (and, of course,

.which is then approaching the paper feeding point. Slack is initially provided by a quick downward and upward movement of the paper unrolling arm I88. The paper is then fed toward the turret onto the skeleton table by the feed roller llll cooperating with the pressure wheel H2. The blank of paper is next severed by downward movement of the knife, but at the same time the feed fingers 220 grip the trailing edge of the sheet of paper, which then is moved a small amount further toward the turret to position it on the skeleton table directly above the path of travel of the die. As the die comes into indexing relationship with the paper feeding station, the holding fingers are tripped and drop upon the free inner edge of the sheet of paper, and at the same time the feed fingers 220 are released, so that the blank of paper moves with the die. The plunger then begins to descend, thusrepeating the cycle.

During the fourth quadrant, the cut-oil! valve 26 is closed and the bottom valve 50 of the measuring box is opened to discharge the measured quantity of powder into the plunger, but during the remaining three quadrants the bottom valve 50 may be closed and the cut-off valve 2' opened, thereby providing more than ample time for powder to fiow downwardly from the hopper andfrom the space immediately above the cut-oil! valve into the measuring box. During the rotation of the turret the powder supply in the hopper is constantly being replenished through the supply pipe i2, and the powder is agitated, sifted,

and urged downwardly into the valve chambers by the stationary combs around which the hopper rotates.

It is believed that the mode of constructing and using, and the many'advantages of my improved bag forming and filling machine, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. The machine may be operated at extremely high speeds with respect to the rate at which bags are formed and filled, and yet ample time is provided for the forming and filling of each individual bag. The powder feed is accomplished in a simple yet positive manner, and the delivery of the powder to the bag is in a straight downward path which insures full, accurate, and uninterrupted delivery. The precise measurement of the contents delivered to the bags is readily adjustable. Sticking of the powder or formation of lumps therein is obviated. Paper blanks are fed to the turret without in any way interrupting the smooth and continuous rotation of the turret. These blanks are severed from a continuous roll of paper and yet are delivered tothe successive bag forming dies in exact registration therewith. The turret mechanism is so designed that simple rotation of the turret itself causes the operation of the various valves, plungers, holding fingers, and the like, by appropriate camming relationships between the rotating turret and stationary cams. The delivery system provides effective, positive, and synchronous delivery of the formed and filled bags from the turret to a conveyor along which the bags are likewise moved in synchronous relation. to the oper-- and described my invention in preferred form, many changes and modifications may be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention, defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A bag forming and filling machine comprising a rotatable turret, a plurality of complete bag forming and filling stations distributed around, mounted on, and rotatable with said turret, each of said stations including a die and a hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, said die being so shaped as tofold the paper directlyaround the plunger to form a bag having bottom and side walls upon simple downward reciprocation of the plunger through the die, means to feed paper to the stations, means to feed filler material to the plungers, and means to deliver the formed and filled bags from the turret.

2. A bag forming and filling machine comprising a rotatable turret, means to continuously rotate the same, a plurality of bag forming and filling stations distributed around, mounted on, and rotatable with said turret, each of said stations including a die and a rectangular hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, said die being so shaped as to fold the paper directly around the plunger to form a bag having bottom and side walls upon simple downward reciprocation of the plunger through the die, means to feed blanks of paper to the stations during rotation of the turret, means to feed a supply of powder to the open upper ends of the plungers during rotation of the turret, and means to deliver the formed and filled bags from the turret, whereby ample time for forming and filling the bags is provided during the rotation of the turret despite the high-speed succession of bags formed by the machine. 1

3. A bag forming and filling machine comprising a stationary frame rotatably supporting a turret, a plurality of bag forming and fillingstations distributed around said turret, each of said stations including a die, a rectangular hollow plunger vertically reciprocable therethrough, said die being so shaped as to fold the paper directly around the plunger to form a bag having bottom and side walls upon simple downward reciprocation of the plunger through the die, and a cam follower on the plunger, a stationary cylindrical cam surrounding the turret and engaging the cam followers to cause reciprocation of the plungers as the turret revolves, means to feed paper to the stations, means to feed filler material to the plungers, and means to deliver the formed and filled bags from the turret.

4. A bag forming and filling machine comprising a continuously rotatable turret, a plurality of bag forming and filling stations distributed around, mounted on, and rotatable with said turret, each of said stations including a die and a rectangular hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, said die being so shaped as to fold the paper directly around the plunger to form a bag having bottom and side walls upon simple downward reciprocation of the plunger through the die, means to feed blanks of paper to the stations during rotation of the turret, means to feed powder to the plungers during rotation of the turret, means to deliver the formed and filled bags from the rotating turret, a main cam shaft and driving shaft for operating the aforesaid mechanism, a driving motor, anda safety clutch between the motor and shaft designed to slip when overloaded.

5. A bag forming and filling machine comprising. a rotatable turret, a plurality of complete bag forming and filling stations distributed around, mounted on, and rotatable with said turret, each of said stations including a die and a rectangular hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, means to feed pamr to thestations, means to feed a measured supply of powder to the plungers while the plungers are elevated, each plunger having a valve and operating mechanism for temporarily retaining the charge, said valve being fully openable to provide a substantially clear hollow plunger measured supply of powder to the open upper measuring box of adjustable volume within the ends of the plungers, said means including a valve chamber above each plunger, a measuring box of adjustable volume within the chamber, a

supply space above said measuring'box, a cut-off valve to close the top of the measuring box, a

valve closing the bottom of the measuring box but openable to drop the measured charge into the ing a rotatable turret, a plurality of bag forming and filling stations distributed around said turret, each of said stations including a die and a rectangular hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, means to feed paper to the stations, means to feed a measured supply of powder to the open upper ends of theplungers, said means including a valve chamber above each plunger, a

chamber, a supply space above said measuring box, a cut-off valve to close the top of the measuring box, a valve closing the bottom of the measuring box but openable to drop the measuredcharge into the plunger, said plunger having a valve and operating mechanism for temporarily retaining the charge, said valve being fully openable to provide a substantially clear hollow plunger for direct straight fiow of the charge downwardly into the bag.

8. A bag forming and filling machine of the type comprising a rotatable turret, a plurality of complete bag forming and filling stations distributed around, mounted upon, and rotatable with said turret, each of said stations including a die and a rectangular hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, means to feed paper to the stations, means to feed powder to the plungers,

' saidmeans including an annular hopper above the plungers, means to supply powder to the hopper, means for delivering powder from the hopper to the plungers, and means to deliver the formed and filled bags from the turret.

9. A bag forming and filling machine of the type comprising a'rotatable turret, a plurality of bag forming and filling stations distributed around said turret, each of said stations including a die and a rectangular hollow plunger re- 1 ciprocable therethrough, means to feed paper to from the hopper to the plungers, and means to deliver the formed and filled bags from the turret.

10. A bag forming and filling machine comprising'a rotatable turret, a plurality of bag forming and filling stations distributed around said turret, each of said stations including a die and a rectangular hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, means to feed paper to the stations, means to feed powder to the plungers, said means including an annular downwardly tapering hopper above the plungers and rotatable therewith, a stationary supplypipe terminating in the hopper for feeding powderthereto, stationary means for agitating the powder in the hopper as the hopper rotates, and measuring means for delivering a measured charge of powder from the hopper to the plungers.

11. A bag forming and filling machine comprising a rotatable turret, a plurality of bag forming and filling stations distributed around said turret, each of said stations including a die and a rectangular hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, means to feed paper to the stations, an

annular hopper at the top ofthe turret, a stationary supply pipe leading thereto, means to feed a measured supply of powder from the hopper to the open upper ends of the plungers, said means including a valve chamber above each plunger and below the hopper, a measuring box of adjustable volume within the chamber, a cut-off valve to close the top of the measuring box, and a valve closing the bottom of the measuring box but openable to drop the measured charge into the plunger.

12. A bag forming and filling machine comprising a rotatable turret, means to rotate the same continuously without dwell, a plurality of bag forming and filling stations distributed around said turret, each of said stations including a die and a hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, stationary'paper feeding means including a skeleton table above the revolving dies of the turret, means for advancing a blank of paper on the skeleton table toward the turret, means on the turret to seize the blank of paper when the revolving die passes the paper feed means, means to feed powder to the plungers, and means to deliver the formed and filled bags from the turret.

13. A bag forming and filling machine comprising a rotatable turret, means to rotate the same continuously without dwell, a plurality of bag forming and filling stations distributed around, mounted on, and rotatable with said turret, each of said stations including a die and a hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, said die being so shaped as to fold the paper directly around the plunger to form a bag having bottom and side walls upon simple downward reciprocation of the plunger through the die, stationary paper feeding means including a paper roll support, means for intermittently feeding a web of paper therefrom, a knife for severing a measured blank of paper, means for advancing the severed blank toward the rotating turret, means on the turret to take and hold the blank in position on the revolving die, means to feed powder to the revolving plungers, and means to deliver the formed and filled bags from the turret.

14. A bag forming and filling machine comprising a rotatable turret, means to rotate the same continuously without dwell, a plurality ofbag forming and filling stations distributed around, mounted on, and rotatable with said turret, each of said stations including a die and a rectangular hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, a stationary paper feeding means alongside of the rotatable turret including a paper roll, means for intermittently feeding a web of paper therefrom onto a skeleton table above the dies, a knife for severing a measured blank of paper on the table, normally elevated holding fingers on the rotating turret, and means to drop the same upon the blank of paper to hold the revolving paper on the die when the die passes the paper feeding means, means to feed powder to the plungers, and means to deliver the formed and filled bags from the turret.

15. A bag forming and filling machine comprising a rotatable turret, a plurality of bag forming and filling stations distributed around said turret, each of said stations including a die and a rectangulr hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, paper feeding means including a paper roll, an oscillatableyieldable arm to unwind slack from the roll, means for intermittently feeding the web of paper toward the turret, a knife for severing a measured blank of paper from the web, means on the turret to hold the blank in position on the die when the die passes the paper feeding means, and means to feed powder to the plungers.

16. A bag forming and filling machine comprising a rotatable turret, a plurality of bag forming and filling stations distributed around said turret, each of said stations including a die and a rectangular hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, stationary paper feeding means alongside of the rotatable turret including a paper roll support, means to unwind the roll for slack, feed and pressure rollers for intermittently feeding the web of paper onto a skeleton table above the dies, a knife for severing a measured blank of paper on the table, feed fingers for advancing the severed blank on the skeleton table toward the turret, normally elevated holding fingers on the turret, and means to drop the same upon the blank of paper when the die comes into registry with the paper feed means in order to hold the paper on the die, and means to feed powder to the plungers. v

17. A bag forming and filling machine com prising a rotatable turret, means to rotate the same continuously without dwell, a plurality of bag forming and filling stations distributed around, mounted on, and rotatable with said turret, each of said stations including a die and a hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, means to feed paper to the revolving stations, means to feed filler powder to the revolving plungers, and means to deliver the formed and filled bags from the rotating turret, said means including a delivery conveyor, and means for sweeping the formed and filled bags away from the rotating turret to the delivery conveyor.

18. A bag forming and filling machine comprising a rotatable turret, a plurality of bag forming and filling stations distributed around said turret, each of said stations including a die and a rectangular hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, said die being so shaped as to fold the paper directly around the plunger to form a bag having bottom and side walls upon simpledownward reciprocation of the plunger through the die, means to feed paper to the stations, means to feed powder to the plungers, and means to deliver the formed and filled bags from the turret, said means including a delivery conveyor, a

filled bags away from the turret to the delivery conveyor, and drive means rotating both the turret and delivery wheel, the arms of the delivery wheel, the stations of the turret,and the drive means being so related as to providefor synchronism and equal linear speed of operation v therebetween.

19. A bag forming and filling machine comprising a rotatable turret, means to rotate the same continuously without dwell, four bag forming and filling stations distributed around said turret, each of said stations including a die and a rectangular hollow plunger reciprocable therethrough, stationary means alongside of the rotatable turret to feed blanks of paper to the stations during rotation of the turret, means to feed a. supply of powder to the open upper ends of the plungers during rotation of the turret, and means to deliver the formed and filled bags from the turret, said means including a delivery conveyor, a small delivery wheel located alongside of the turret ahead of the paper feed means and carrying two arms for sweeping the formed and filled bags away from the rotating turret to the delivery conveyor, and means gearing the wheel and the turret in two to one turning ratio.

20. A bag forming and filling machine comprising a die, a hollow plunger reciprocable through said die means to supply a charge of powder to the plunger, a valve near the bottom of the plunger to temporarily retain said charge, and means to so fully open said valve that the plunger is substantially fully cleared for direct straight downward flow 01' the charge.

21. A bag forming and filling machine comprising a die, a rectangular hollow plunger reciprocable through said die, means to supply a measured charge or powder to the open upper end of the plunger, a valve near the bottom of the plunger to retain said charge until the bag is formed, means including linkage within the plunger for opening the valve near the end of the stroke of the plunger, said linkage being so disposed closely adjacent one wall of the plunger and said valve being so fully openable that the plungeris substantially fully cleared for direct straight downward flow of the charge when the valve is opened.

22. A bag forming and filling machine com- 'prising a dye, a rectangular hollow plunger. re- -cipr0cab1e through said die, means to supply a measured charge of powder to the open upper 23. A bag forming and filling machinecomprising a die, a rectangular hollow plunger reciprocable through said die, means to supply a measured charge of powder to .the open upper end of the plunger, said means including a valve chamber intermediately carrying aflmeasuring box having a movable side, micrometer screw adjustment means for moving the side and thereby varying the volume of the measuring box, a cutoff valve slidable across the open top of the measuring box, a valve normally closing the lower end of the measuring box but opeiiable to drop the measured charge of powder into the upper end of the plunger. and a valve near the bottom of the plunger to retain said charge until the bag is formed.

24. A bag forming and filling machine compris-- ing a die, a rectangular hollow plunger reciprocable through said die, means to supp a mea'Isured charge of powder to the open upper end of the plunger, said means including a valve chamber carrying a measuring box, a cut-oil valve at the top or the measuring box, a valve normally closing the lower end of the measuring box but openable .to drop the measured charge of powder into the upper end of the plunger, a

valve near the bottom of the plunger to retain said charge until the bag is formed, and means to so fully open said valve that the plunger is substantially fully cleared for direct straight downward flow of the charge.

25. A bag forming and filling machine comprising a die; a rectangular hollow plunger reciprocable through said die, means to supply a measured charge of powder to the open upper end of the plunger, said means including a valve chamber intermediately carrying a measuring box having a movable side, micrometer screw adjustment means for moving the side and thereby varying the volume 01' the measuring box, a cut-oil valve slidable across the top of the measuring box, a valve normally closing the lower end of the measuring box but openable to drop the measured charge or powder into the upper end of the plunger, a valve near the bottom of the plunger to retain said charge until the bag is formed, means including linkage within the plunger for opening the valve near the end of the stroke of the plunger, said linkage being so disposed closely adjacent one wall or the plunger and said valve being so fully openable that the plunger is substantially fully cleared for direct straight downward flow oi the charge when the valve is opened.

26. A bag forming and'fllling machine comprising'a rotatable turret, a plurality of bag I a on the turret above each plunger, a measuring box within the chamber,-a cut-oil valve to close the top oi. the measuring box, a valve closing the bottom of the measuring box but openable ,to feed the measured charge into the plunger,

cam followers for operating said valves, and stationary annular cams surrounding the turret for actuating said cam followers as the turret revolves.

THEODORE SCHILDER. 

